Is Transport for Wales nationalist? Could its operations be redistributed?

[Wolfie]

We need a 'like' button on this site.

I met a guy running a carwash in Crewe who spoke fluent Serbian and Rumanian, a bit of Russian, some Urdu.

And good English.

And when he drove over toward Wrexham he'd tune in to Radio Cymru on the car radio because he liked the sound of the language!

Well, the name Crewe is derived from a Welsh root ( cryw = fish trap) so perhaps we could move Cheshire too!

I note that Herefordshire and Worcestershire have yet to be suggested lol

 

[mmh]

Ah, it's been a while since we've had one of these threads, I guess we were overdue for one.

For now, I'll just give my usual comment that, as a public body, TFW are required by law to do provide everything in both languages in Wales. I'll now watch in amusement as no doubt the usual fallacies are trotted out!

 

[6Gman]

I note that Herefordshire and Worcestershire have yet to be suggested lol

Don't let TfW anywhere near Worcester.

Given how the use of Welsh seems to wind up some sensitive folk imagine what they'd make of a train calling at Caerwrangon.

( Kai - wrong 'un )

Seriously, I use TfW trains a lot in a Shrewsbury/Chester/Manchester triangle and the announcements occasionally cause some mild surprise, but hardly cause issues.

 

[vicbury]

Living in Lydney, my personal bugbears with TfW are the following:

1. The Cheltenham service seems to be top of the list for cancellations whenever there is a even a semblance of operational issues.
2. The Cheltenham service has gone from 3 car 170s when I moved here to predominantly 2 car 150s, 153s and 197s.
3. Lydney seems to have been arbitrarily excluded from the pay as you go zone, despite having the same exact service provision as nearby Chepstow. This means we pay far more proportionately for journeys to Cardiff and Newport and really is unfair.

Whether any of the above is due to nationalist policies, I've no idea.

 

[35B]

Ah, it's been a while since we've had one of these threads, I guess we were overdue for one.

For now, I'll just give my usual comment that, as a public body, TFW are required by law to do provide everything in both languages in Wales. I'll now watch in amusement as no doubt the usual fallacies are trotted out!

Does that legislation (a) require public bodies based in Wales to provide everything in both languages when in England, or (b) always use Welsh first regardless of context?

 

[mmh]

Does that legislation (a) require public bodies based in Wales to provide everything in both languages when in England, or (b) always use Welsh first regardless of context?

(a) you already know the answer to that - no. Hence signage at TFW run stations in England isn't in both languages.

(b) the order of languages isn't defined in law, what is is that Welsh mustn't be treated less favourably. In practice of course, that means that spoken Welsh has to be first, and in writing the Welsh has to be either above the English or to the left of it. What do you mean by "context"?

 

[thenorthern]

Since the Welsh government took over the Wales and Borders franchise, I have noticed that the operation has been getting increasingly more biased towards the "Wales" element, and that the "Borders" element is becoming more and more neglected. Here are a few reasons for my theory.

1. Welsh language provision
I'd like to start this by saying, that there is absolutely zero reason why any train service that is entirely in England should have Welsh train announcements first. On TfW, these services include Crewe to Chester, Crewe to Shrewsbury, and Liverpool to Chester. Yet, some services that do go into Wales, but are ran by other TOCs, have no Welsh announcements at all, such as GWR and Cross Country's services to Cardiff. A good alternative policy could be that, when in Wales, such services have Welsh announcements first, and when in England, such services have English announcements first.

In my opinion, this is an issue for various reasons. Firstly, it could be confusing for none Welsh speakers that don't speak English as their first language. Secondly, some announcements for the next station are at the last minute, so sometimes, the English announcement only plays when the train is pulling into the platform. For someone unfamiliar with the route, this could cause unneccessary panic when getting off the train. A third, very obvious reason, is that most people using TfW's services either speak both English and Welsh, or only English. A tiny minority only speak Welsh.

2. Priority of investment
The biggest upgrades as part of the TfW franchise have all been concentrated in Wales. These projects include South Wales Metro, and the North Wales timetable upgrade. Additionally, in their "Today, Tomorrow, Together" report, published earlier this year, most of their priority projects are in Wales, such as North Wales Metro, and North Wales electrification. Routes outside of Wales seem to be merely an afterthought, with no substantial upgrades to the Marches for decades.

Additionally, the new trains operating outside of Wales, are in my opinion inferior to those inside Wales. The 231s and 756s were more expensive than the 197s, and it really shows. The 231s and 756s have good reliability, and have impressive passenger comfort, considering the short distance routes they operate. Apart from the seats, the 197s are a direct downgrade in almost every way, with inferior reliability, unreliable air-con and toilets, poor ride quality, and harsh interior lighting. The Mk4s are much better for passengers, but are also unreliable, and are ultimately hand-me-down trains, rather than brand new.

3. Politics
I am all in favour of rail nationalisation, and that the railway should be controlled by the government, rather than private business. However, I do not think any services that are substantially outside of Wales should be ran by the Welsh government. The problem with this, is that TfW ran stations/services outside of Wales are placed “in limbo”, without representation by the English government, but the Welsh government have little reason to care, as the operation isn’t in their governing area.

Scotrail has a grand total of 1 station it serves outside Scotland, that being Carlisle. I know that TfW operates so far outside of Wales for historical franchising reasons, but in my opinion, this needs reconsidering, now that TfW is run by the Welsh government. I am also concerned, that said TfW stations/services outside Wales will “miss out” on Great British Railways, when/if that launches.

I don't think the Welsh language announcements for England only services are to plant a flag or for nationalist purposes rather the trains are programmed to have dual language requirement for public bodies in Wales to treat Welsh on the same basis as English. It's unlikely there is an option for English only annoucements on the trains. I would question the uselfulness for Welsh Language announcements in a lot of Wales to be honest particularly those services on the Valley Lines given the amount of Welsh speakers in the valleys and Cardiff is around 10%. Bear in mind this is the amount of people who can speak Welsh not those who speak it as a first language. But the law is the law and TfW rail is only complying with the law.

I agree that the England-only services however should be moved over to GBR when that is fully up and running. From what I can see the Crewe to Chester and Crewe to Shrewsbury are the "England Only" services of TfW. I think moving the England only services to GBR has been mentioned by the government.

Slightly off topic but will what is now Avanti, CrossCountry and GWR services that run in Wales have to provide information in Welsh when GBR is created? As private companies, they are not covered by the Welsh Language Act. However when GBR is created, it will be another matter as it's not just things from Senedd Cymru that have to be in Welsh. Hence why on the Gov.uk website it often has the "view in Welsh" option.

 

[mmh]

Slightly off topic but will what is now Avanti, CrossCountry and GWR services that run in Wales have to provide information in Welsh when GBR is created?

Avanti are very good on this front. The 805s do bilingual announcements while in Wales (and with more "correct" Welsh than TFW do - the announcement system on 197s doesn't cope with letter mutations, even though they had a system on the Mk4s which did. I suspect it's merely a case of poorly specified systems.

(Avanti's system doesn't do mutations either, but they've deliberately phrased the announcements so they're - mostly - not needed. Avanti feels like they asked a Welsh speaker more than TFW does!)

 

[6Gman]

I agree that the England-only services however should be moved over to GBR when that is fully up and running. From what I can see the Crewe to Chester and Crewe to Shrewsbury are the "England Only" services of TfW. I think moving the England only services to GBR has been mentioned by the government.

As someone who uses the Crewe - Chester shuttle quite a lot, the thought of the Chester-based 197 being replaced by a Newton Heath 150 is less than appealing!

Ditto for the Shrewsbury stopper being sourced from Tyseley.

 

[35B]

(a) you already know the answer to that - no. Hence signage at TFW run stations in England isn't in both languages.

(b) the order of languages isn't defined in law, what is is that Welsh mustn't be treated less favourably. In practice of course, that means that spoken Welsh has to be first, and in writing the Welsh has to be either above the English or to the left of it. What do you mean by "context"?

I didn't know (a), and I have encountered Welsh language signage in England, not just from TfW.

As for (b), I am not sure how a requirement that Welsh must not be treated less favourably reasonably means that it must be given precedence (which is the clear implication of placing it first). By context, I am again going back to the OP and the quite reasonable observations about trains travelling between stations in England. My own view of signage and announcements is that they are there for the purposes of providing information to those who need them. I'm therefore as uncomfortable with Welsh first signage in English language majority areas as I am about English first signage in Welsh majority areas.

Like someone else on this thread, I think the Swiss approach (based on local language distribution) is the best way through this. However, I am also well aware that language is closely linked to nationalism, and that having one's language dominant is a standard part of nationalist politics - from 19th century central European nationalisms, through the late 19th/early 20th century Gaelic project in Ireland, through to more modern resurgences in places like Catalonia or Cornwall. And in all of these, an entirely reasonable demand for people to speak in their native tongues is hard to untangle from purely political demands - most recently evidenced in the reaction of Plaid Cymru to being told that they can't limit housing to Welsh language speakers.

 

[thenorthern]

(a) you already know the answer to that - no. Hence signage at TFW run stations in England isn't in both languages.

(b) the order of languages isn't defined in law, what is is that Welsh mustn't be treated less favourably. In practice of course, that means that spoken Welsh has to be first, and in writing the Welsh has to be either above the English or to the left of it. What do you mean by "context"?

Sorry to be pedantic but Knighton station is in England, although it has signs in Welsh. I know Knighton is in Wales and the station is literally just over the border. I now it's a trivial matter but I just wanted to point it out.

 

[mmh]

Sorry to be pedantic but Knighton station is in England, although it has signs in Welsh. I know Knighton is in Wales and the station is literally just over the border. I now it's a trivial matter but I just wanted to point it out.

Permanent signage, or something like a poster in an advertising frame?

TFW don't have a great record when it comes to the latter, for example putting up "you must buy before boarding" and penalty fare notices at unstaffed stations.

 

[thenorthern]

Permanent signage, or something like a poster in an advertising frame?

TFW don't have a great record when it comes to the latter, for example putting up "you must buy before boarding" and penalty fare notices at unstaffed stations.

The whole station is largely bilingual I think, with Knighton station it's literally on the edge of the town which is in Wales and as soon as you leave the station and walk about 1 metre down the road you are in Wales. Knighton station itself is in Shropshire, as I say it's just me being pedantic.

 

[Tetchytyke]

As for (b), I am not sure how a requirement that Welsh must not be treated less favourably reasonably means that it must be given precedence (which is the clear implication of placing it first)

Something has to go first. If Welsh always goes second then there is an argument that it is being treated less favourably than English. You are, after all, making exactly that argument: that English is being treated less favourably because it goes second.

You could do a 50/50 split but I’m not sure that such a lack of consistency would help anyone. If Welsh always goes first then you can tune out until the English bit. If it’s random then you have to focus more.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Mar 2026 ==

The summary of these posts seems to be “England and Wales are one entity”

No, they are not one entity. How can you read what I said and have that as your hot take?

I agree that the Mk4s are good, but not the 197s!

The 197s are a lot better than the 150s and 158s that used to operate the Marches?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Last time I was at Chester station there was an interesting looking advert. I had plenty of time to kill but is was all in Welsh and there was no English equivalent around. For the life of me I cannot remember what I decided it might have been.

Tail wagging the dog ?.

As for which language goes first. Almost everyone in Wales speaks English. A minority speak Welsh and most of them speak English - so why is the most useful language to most people put second ?.

Tail wagging the dog.

 

[Chester1]

A Cardiff to Rhyl train crosses the border five times just between Abergavenny and Hereford (well, between Pandy and Pontrilas to be more exact). It then crosses it a further three times later in the journey. Does the emergency announcement have to change each time?

Yes, reductio ad absurdium, but what of Knighton? The station is in England but the town it serves is Welsh. Welsh first or English first? Answers on a postcard.

I agree it woud be absurd for the Marches line but there is no practical issue with switching the langauges around at Chester for Holyhead - Manchester Airport and Llandudno - Liverpool. I have a pet hate of systematic oppression etc being used to justify double standards. Applying a consistent policy would trigger the small proportion of Welsh Nationalists that hate England and therefore I am for announcing in English first on English ends of a route (and routes entirely within England). I doubt the average Welsh speaker would care.

 

[35B]

Something has to go first. If Welsh always goes second then there is an argument that it is being treated less favourably than English. You are, after all, making exactly that argument: that English is being treated less favourably because it goes second.

You could do a 50/50 split but I’m not sure that such a lack of consistency would help anyone. If Welsh always goes first then you can tune out until the English bit. If it’s random then you have to focus more.

I agree on "if X always goes first" - my point is that the argument "Welsh should not be treated less favourably" does not mean "Welsh should always be first".

Which is why I commend the Swiss approach, on a "when in Rome" basis. Wales is not a Welsh speaking country, and the level of Welsh fluency varies considerably across the country. Without being entirely random, the preferred language on (say) the Marches need not be the same as (say) the Cambrian Coast. In just the same way as I've been on a train in Switzerland where the announcements have moved from German first (at Bern) to French first (at Lausanne), reflecting the linguistic geography of the country and respecting the language rights of all citizens without seeking to make one predominant.

Given the announcement overload already, and the number of stations on many Welsh journeys, bi-lingual announcements do pose a challenge for sheer comprehensibility.

 

[Chester1]

I agree on "if X always goes first" - my point is that the argument "Welsh should not be treated less favourably" does not mean "Welsh should always be first".

Which is why I commend the Swiss approach, on a "when in Rome" basis. Wales is not a Welsh speaking country, and the level of Welsh fluency varies considerably across the country. Without being entirely random, the preferred language on (say) the Marches need not be the same as (say) the Cambrian Coast. In just the same way as I've been on a train in Switzerland where the announcements have moved from German first (at Bern) to French first (at Lausanne), reflecting the linguistic geography of the country and respecting the language rights of all citizens without seeking to make one predominant.

Given the announcement overload already, and the number of stations on many Welsh journeys, bi-lingual announcements do pose a challenge for sheer comprehensibility.

Legally Wales is a Welsh speaking country and the Welsh government has a policy of prioritising the Welsh language. It is a long standing policy and people have voted for Labour (and previous coalition partners) on that basis. English in England and Welsh in Wales makes sense apart from Chester - Cardiff services for obvious practical reasons. I suspect for some that the objection to straight forward language reversals at Chester and Shrewsbury comes from a deep seated belief that the English are the bad guys and language rules shouldn't be applied consistently if they benefit the "oppressor".

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

TfW posters in Welsh only - detailing engineering works etc - occasionally appear at Stockport and Wilmslow. They have a twin in English but sometimes the wrong one is sent. They are duly put up - I guess it gives us an appreciation of how the Welsh feel about English only posters. A further complication with Welsh is the mutation rule- Caerdydd appears as Gaerdydd on the carriage display for example - I though this was a typo but a very nice conductor explained the concept to me.

 

[thenorthern]

I think people on are exaggerating TfW's use of Welsh.

Yes they are a public body and yes they have to provide services in Welsh on the same level as English but they aren't going for some sort of Welsh supremacy. At the end of the day 82% of people in Wales don't speak Welsh and TfW aren't trying to somehow eliminate English.

 

[Chester1]

TfW posters in Welsh only - detailing engineering works etc - occasionally appear at Stockport and Wilmslow. They have a twin in English but sometimes the wrong one is sent. They are duly put up - I guess it gives us an appreciation of how the Welsh feel about English only posters. A further complication with Welsh is the mutation rule- Caerdydd appears as Gaerdydd on the carriage display for example - I though this was a typo but a very nice conductor explained the concept to me.

What government or other state entity posters are put up in Wales only written in English? That is illegal under Welsh law. If it is done by mistake then no doubt it will be pointed out quickly and in the mean time everyone can understand it. A Welsh only poster in Stockport is useless to litterally 99% of passengers there.

 

[WAB]

Oh dear! We're back to this thread again.

I don't think the Welsh language announcements for England only services are to plant a flag or for nationalist purposes rather the trains are programmed to have dual language requirement for public bodies in Wales to treat Welsh on the same basis as English. It's unlikely there is an option for English only annoucements on the trains. I would question the uselfulness for Welsh Language announcements in a lot of Wales to be honest particularly those services on the Valley Lines given the amount of Welsh speakers in the valleys and Cardiff is around 10%. Bear in mind this is the amount of people who can speak Welsh not those who speak it as a first language. But the law is the law and TfW rail is only complying with the law.

Which is why I commend the Swiss approach, on a "when in Rome" basis. Wales is not a Welsh speaking country, and the level of Welsh fluency varies considerably across the country. Without being entirely random, the preferred language on (say) the Marches need not be the same as (say) the Cambrian Coast. In just the same way as I've been on a train in Switzerland where the announcements have moved from German first (at Bern) to French first (at Lausanne), reflecting the linguistic geography of the country and respecting the language rights of all citizens without seeking to make one predominant.

An interesting idea. If you look at the stats, Gwynedd is the only local authority with a majority of people speaking Welsh daily. Not even Anglesey makes it to 50%! Certainly, it seems a bit tokenistic to be Welsh-first in most of Wales.

When considering stats, you have to be careful to look at the right ones for your purpose. The usual stat used is that of the ability to speak Welsh, which doesn't align well with actual usage.

The Nantwich line only really makes sense if eventually Shrewsbury goes into Cardiff too, but it's perhaps more logical to manage that area from a West Midlands centre.

This is a somewhat puzzling idea. The traffic along the Crewe-Shrewsbury line is almost entirely TfW services. Service Control and Route Control are in Cardiff. Why would you change that, and why would you introduce an interface between the Wales, Midlands and North Western routes at a major junction which has a TfW-run station and limited visibility on train running information systems due to the AB signalling?

 

[WTT Gremlin]

Since the Welsh government took over the Wales and Borders franchise, I have noticed that the operation has been getting increasingly more biased towards the "Wales" element, and that the "Borders" element is becoming more and more neglected. Here are a few reasons for my theory.

1. Welsh language provision
I'd like to start this by saying, that there is absolutely zero reason why any train service that is entirely in England should have Welsh train announcements first. On TfW, these services include Crewe to Chester, Crewe to Shrewsbury, and Liverpool to Chester. Yet, some services that do go into Wales, but are ran by other TOCs, have no Welsh announcements at all, such as GWR and Cross Country's services to Cardiff. A good alternative policy could be that, when in Wales, such services have Welsh announcements first, and when in England, such services have English announcements first.

In my opinion, this is an issue for various reasons. Firstly, it could be confusing for none Welsh speakers that don't speak English as their first language. Secondly, some announcements for the next station are at the last minute, so sometimes, the English announcement only plays when the train is pulling into the platform. For someone unfamiliar with the route, this could cause unneccessary panic when getting off the train. A third, very obvious reason, is that most people using TfW's services either speak both English and Welsh, or only English. A tiny minority only speak Welsh.

2. Priority of investment
The biggest upgrades as part of the TfW franchise have all been concentrated in Wales. These projects include South Wales Metro, and the North Wales timetable upgrade. Additionally, in their "Today, Tomorrow, Together" report, published earlier this year, most of their priority projects are in Wales, such as North Wales Metro, and North Wales electrification. Routes outside of Wales seem to be merely an afterthought, with no substantial upgrades to the Marches for decades.

Additionally, the new trains operating outside of Wales, are in my opinion inferior to those inside Wales. The 231s and 756s were more expensive than the 197s, and it really shows. The 231s and 756s have good reliability, and have impressive passenger comfort, considering the short distance routes they operate. Apart from the seats, the 197s are a direct downgrade in almost every way, with inferior reliability, unreliable air-con and toilets, poor ride quality, and harsh interior lighting. The Mk4s are much better for passengers, but are also unreliable, and are ultimately hand-me-down trains, rather than brand new.

3. Politics
I am all in favour of rail nationalisation, and that the railway should be controlled by the government, rather than private business. However, I do not think any services that are substantially outside of Wales should be ran by the Welsh government. The problem with this, is that TfW ran stations/services outside of Wales are placed “in limbo”, without representation by the English government, but the Welsh government have little reason to care, as the operation isn’t in their governing area.

Scotrail has a grand total of 1 station it serves outside Scotland, that being Carlisle. I know that TfW operates so far outside of Wales for historical franchising reasons, but in my opinion, this needs reconsidering, now that TfW is run by the Welsh government. I am also concerned, that said TfW stations/services outside Wales will “miss out” on Great British Railways, when/if that launches.

1. Simplicity of systems would seem to disagree with. (I would agree with others remarks regarding having a single 'official' name used for each station which would afford the maximum reduction in overall duration whilst not requiring unnecessary complication to systems).

2. a. Remind me who are the infrastructure owner/manager covering the various routes across Wales?
2. b. What % of STK that TfW operate over are in each nation respectively?
2. c. What to you propose the Marches Line needs in terms of 'substantial upgrades'? And, what services cannot be run currently because of the lack of said 'substantial upgrades'? (To the North of the Marches, but the majority of the re doubling between Chester and Wrexham lies on the English side of the border, and of course GWML/SWML was neither significant nor of benefit outside of Wales)

3. a. There is only 1 service group which could meet this designation (Shrewsbury to Crewe). However, given I frequently exceed the distance Shrewsbury station is from the Welsh border by going to work, objectively it is not substantially outside of Wales. And as has been said from an operational perspective it makes far more sense to have the core passengers services on a Line of Route operated by the same operator.
3. b. What 'English Government' would that be...? I would point out that there has not been one for over 315 years... in the context of 'railways' - it had ceased to exist over 15 years before Causey Arch was built.

And to answer the questions in the title of the thread: No, because there is a fundamental difference between patriotism and nationalism; and sure - they 'could' be - but if done for the reasons stated and clear tone throughout it would just make the network as a whole worse.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Mar 2026 ==

I note that Herefordshire and Worcestershire have yet to be suggested lol

Probably because people assume that Herefordshire already is, whilst Worcestershire, now that would be a saucy suggestion...

I am entirely not sorry for the quality of joke.

 

[Krokodil]

Routes outside of Wales seem to be merely an afterthought, with no substantial upgrades to the Marches for decades.

Two or three car 175s have become five car 197s or loco-hauled sets.

The 231s and 756s have good reliability

They really don't. 197s achieve more miles between failures.

The Cheltenham service has gone from 3 car 170s when I moved here to predominantly 2 car 150s, 153s and 197s.

My memory is a little longer than yours. I remember when the service had many gaps in the timetable and was often operated by pacers.

 

[quantinghome]

A brief look at a map will explain why TfW train services extend outside of Wales. It is impossible to move by rail between the various parts of Wales without passing through England. We can thank Dr Beeching for that.

Even without the ministrations of the good doctor, the main north-south route for Wales would still be the borders line. It's the fastest and most direct route between the largest northern and southern population centres. Prior to Beeching was there ever a north-south service that used only Welsh lines?

 

[35B]

Even without the ministrations of the good doctor, the main north-south route for Wales would still be the borders line. It's the fastest and most direct route between the largest northern and southern population centres. Prior to Beeching was there ever a north-south service that used only Welsh lines?

It depends how you answer. There were north-south routes (Carmarthen -Aberystwyth, Mid Wales line, linking to Bala-Blaenau Ffestiniog, or Bangor-Afin Wen) but never through services. That reflected an economic geography that wasn’t about connecting with the capital, and acknowledged that much of Wales was highly connected with England. There is still only one A road that goes north to south.

Indeed, the current Welsh nationalist idea of routes linking the whole country reflects a much more modern sense of nationhood, and it is interesting how unambitious the focus on reopening old lines is.

 

[Dr Day]

I think the underlying issue is possibly those living on the English side of the border not feeling any sense of support or recognition from the DfT, who are supposed to be ‘looking after’ them.

It is also unclear where the funding all comes from and who decides how it is spent. Rightly or wrongly, a perception is that revenue from say a Hereford to Manchester journey is going into a pot which Welsh ministers decide what to do with, rather than anything anyone in say Herefordshire can do anything about.

And there remains a fear, again rightly or wrongly, that GBR will make things worse not better. Whilst things like unnecessary operator-specific fares can be removed or control rooms combined between TOCs and NR to genuine benefit elsewhere in England there remains a risk that around the borders TfW may want to abstract GBR revenue (eg between Cardiff and Bristol) or even within Wales the other way around will GBR prioritise former GWR, XC or Avanti services on their infrastructure over TfW ones?

 

[The Ham]

I watched a video recently about a politician (you can have three guesses as to which one) saying that they wouldn't be attending a wedding in Wales as half the people would be speaking a foreign language.

Given that English is a mix of German, French and Danish, it's one of the few things I can give them credit for not expanding the number of foreign speakers at the wedding - and I say that as someone who is English with no Welsh connections other than having been their on holidays a few times!

Based on the above logic, I think it's perfectly reasonable that the older native language is used first in the announcements, even if fewer people use it.

As others have pointed out, regular users of the line will soon learn the Welsh names and I think that most non regular users would know the number of stops from a given station so will be listening out a previous stations for when their stop is the next one. This may result in them getting up for a station when it's only a safety announcement, but probably only if the train is also feeling like it's slowing down.

 

[Bletchleyite]

within Wales the other way around will GBR prioritise former GWR, XC or Avanti services on their infrastructure over TfW ones?

Given that London services are the most important overall, I think yes, they will, and I think it's right that they will. It's not about who operates it, it is about what the service is.

You can wave a dragon on a flag all day (and I love the way Wales and Scotland do but without sometimes racist connotations, unlike England), but unlike Scotland, Wales is tightly connected to England and the direct London services are still of prime importance.

XC maybe less so though.

 

[Western Lord]

I think we should tax the Welsh for speaking English when they've got their own language! The reality is that nobody in Wales does not speak English and most people in Wales don't speak Welsh.